THE drive by Railtrack to arm trains and staff with TV and video cameras to catch vandals in East Lancashire is a step that is surely necessary -- when not just property is being damaged, but life is being put at risk by young hooligans.

For today we hear of trains being pelted with stones and obstacles being put on the tracks. Last year in Lancashire, more than 400 incidents of trespass and vandalism caused train delays totalling more than 200 hours.

Railtrack's tactic is to equip crews with video cameras to record youngsters who attack trains and to instal dozens tiny concealed TV cameras in carriages to catch those who vandalise them. The incriminating images are to be sent to schools so that head teachers and staff may identify those responsible.

Afterwards, Railtrack staff will lecture offenders on the dangers that their actions pose to railway staff, passengers and themselves. It is a message that needs to be rammed home hard.

But is this vital drive being somewhat blunted? For , we learn, the cameras may be used to catch offenders, but not to have them prosecuted because digital images cannot be used as evidence in court.

This is a legal obstacle that needs to be addressed by our legislators when it is plain that TV technology can be a major weapon and deterrent in the fight against crime -- as the widespread footage of the Ealing bombing suspect illustrates.

And tonight we also report of a Blackburn householder whose CCTV system at her home came to the rescue of a neighbour being threatened by two teenagers -- and led to court action. Similarly, in our story last night about the controversy,over a man who has installed a spy camera outside his home, it was disclosed that after two cars were broken into, it helped police catch the culprits.

If cameras can be used as an arm of the law in some cases of crime, is it not vital that they may be in all cases -- including railway vandalism.